We have a highly successful co-leadership model in our sales department where two veteran reps share the Sales Director seat. How do we structure this on our EOS Accountability Chart when the rule is strictly one person per seat?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The rule of one name per seat on the EOS Accountability Chart is absolute because when two people are accountable, nobody is accountable. If you have two leaders sharing a seat, you create a bottleneck where decisions stall, the team gets conflicting direction, and your exit valuation suffers because buyers see a structurally unstable hierarchy. To fix this, you must split the seat. Start by defining the ideal future structure of your sales department without thinking about the two individuals. You will likely find that the department actually requires two distinct seats. For example, one seat could focus on outbound business development and new account acquisition, while the other seat focuses on account management, retention, and client success. Once you have defined these two separate seats, each with its own five unique roles, perform a GWC evaluation on both people. Fit the right person into the right seat based on who gets, wants, and has the capacity to do each specific job. If both truly want to lead the entire sales team, you must choose one to occupy the Sales Director seat and find a different, high-value seat for the other. This ensures clear lines of reporting and absolute accountability, which is exactly what a buyer looks for during due diligence.